The Astronauts Memorial Foundation has appointed Lt. Col (Ret.) Michael Olson as a member of the board of directors.
Olson, who is a member of the Pella American Legion and a Pella resident, is a career banker, currently serving as a vice president at Lincoln Savings Bank in Grinnell.
In 2009, Olson received a congressional nomination for an appointment by the Treasury Department to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee to the United States Mint. He proposed
the 2019 Apollo 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin program while a member of CCAC in 2014 and was a key player in its passage into law in 2016.
During his military career he served in several command and staff positions in the Iowa Army National Guard. His military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal. He is also a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
The Astronauts Memorial Foundation was founded in the wake of the Challenger accident in 1986, and is a private, nonprofit organization that honors U.S. astronauts and astronauts who
flew with U.S. crews on American Space Ships, who have lost their lives while on a U.S. government mission or in training. Twenty-four astronauts are now honored by AMF.